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\f0\fs20 \cf0 Electric Sheep (http://electricsheep.org) is a distributed\
screensaver, which means that everyone who runs the screensaver also\
participates in its creation.  While the screensaver is running, your\
computer will contact the server (sheepserver.net and others)\
to download AVI animations with HTTP.\
\
Until it downloads its first animation, the screensaver displays just\
a black screen and a logo. This takes several minutes, and depending\
on network conditions and server load, perhaps much longer.\
\
The downloaded AVIs are kept on your hard disk, by default taking up\
to 2GB.  The disk cache's size and location as well as other\
parameters and options can be adjusted from the Windows screensaver\
control panel by clicking "Settings" and on the Mac screensaver\
System Preferences by clicking "Options".\
\
While you are watching the screensaver, you may vote for or against\
sheep by pushing the up or down arrow key. These votes are transmitted\
to the server and used to drive the evolution of the flock: sheep that\
receive more votes live longer and reproduce with each other, and\
creating offspring with a family resemblance.\
\
If you are interested you can have more direct influence over the\
sheep by downloading additional software to design your own sheep and\
posting them into the gene pool. They will then be rendered by the\
network and eventually appear on screens all over the world. If they\
prove popular, they will interbreed with the rest of the population,\
and variations on them will appear too.\
\
The Electric Sheep are distributed under a Creative Commons\
license, which means you can reuse and remix them under\
certain terms. The rules are on the web at:\
http://community.electricsheep.org/reuse.\
  \
The sheep (as the AVI animations are called) are drawn algorithmically\
and are extremely processor-intensive. Because it would take a single\
computer a day to render one second of the animation on its own, the\
sheep that you get have been rendered by users of the screensaver all\
over the world working together as a virtual supercomputer.\
\
Your computer too will participate in this rendering effort, but only\
while the screensaver is running. So not only will your computer\
download sheep to play for your enjoyment, but it will also download\
genomes, render them into JPEG/PNG frames, and upload the results to\
the server. No other information is sent to the server: the Electric\
Sheep respect your privacy.\
\
The founder of the Electric Sheep Project, Scott Draves, is a\
contemporary software artist who sells limited edition fine art, some\
of which is rendered by the network. His company, Spotworks LLC,\
develops the Electric Sheep and provides access to the server free of\
charge, as well as carrying out commercial activities to offset our\
costs. Therefore some jobs rendered by the network may be for images\
or animations which are not sheep at all, and will not appear in the\
screen-saver.\
\
If you would like to support the Electric Sheep by purchasing art\
based on the sheep genomes, please visit http://www.scottdraves.com\
\
Thanks for your participation!\
}